Tuesday Randomness

• Tonight was a bit of a challenging night for the girls and me.  It was one of those nights where I am clearly outnumbered and I feel like they know it.  I said "NO!" entirely too many times and Mackenzie ended up scraping her back in the tub because she was standing up, deliberately disobeying me.  I know they are toddlers and this stage of boundary-testing is all part of the fun, but man, I'm exhausted by the time 8:00 rolls around.

• Then, of course, we head to the couch for a couple of quick stories before bed and my silly, sweet girls come back out to play.  Mackenzie wants to "cook you food" and Addison says, "Read one more, please", and I wonder how I can be so impatient with them sometimes.  Then, the clincher:  "Sing me a song, Mama". 

• We ended up delaying bedtime until 8:45 so we could make amends over the Braves game and America's Funniest Home Videos, my silly girls' latest obsession.  They have such sophisticated taste, don't you agree?

• Speaking of the Braves, Jeremy and I have tickets to go see our favorite baseball team for our anniversary on August 12.  It just happened to work out that they will be honoring Bobby Cox, the recently-retired manager on that night and since he represents beloved childhood memories for both of us, we knew it would be the perfect mutual anniversary gift.

• We are spending the night in Atlanta, which means (1) sleeping late, (2) leisurely breakfast, and (3) hotel pool.  Score!  We are also going to hit the outlets between here and Atlanta on the way home, where I can hopefully make a (cheap) dent in the girls' wardrobe for next year. I love outlet-shopping once or twice a year, but it's been awhile since I've been able to go.  I think even Jeremy is looking forward to it--he does have quite a soft spot for the Polo store.  

• I may or may not have been reading too many vampire novels lately, after my Sookie Stackhouse marathon in May and June, but I just can't help myself.  They're deliciously intriguing, and light enough that they don't keep me up at night stressing over the plot line.  I recently read A Discovery of Witches on the recommendation that it was like Twilight for intelligent adults, and um, I devoured it; there's no other way to put it.  It definitely delivered on the supernatural front:  witches, vampires, daemons...but with an intellectual and historical background that neither Sookie nor Twilight can offer.  Needless to say, I recommend.  (You know, if you're into witches and vampires, which some people aren't.  I get that.  I used to be one of those people myself.)  

• What are you reading now?  Do you like the vampires--Sookie, the Cullens (that's Twilight, for you non-vampire fans), or otherwise?

And with that, I'm off to do a little reading before bed...a nice, normal teenage love story instead of the vampires tonight, unfortunately.  Day two of the plan tomorrow!